LOCAL CONNECTIONS: Hill, others shine at PSAC Indoor Track and Field Championships

photo courtesy of california university of Pa.
California University of Pennsylvania freshman Summer Hill, a Honesdale graduate, was named the Outstanding Track Athlete at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships at Bucknell University.

photo courtesy of King's College
King's College senior Tommy Desir, a Scranton High School graduate, will be wrestling in the NCAA Division III national championships after placing third at 165 pounds at the NCAA East Regional Championships.

California University of Pennsylvania freshman Summer Hill (Honesdale) headlined the performances of local athletes at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The event was held Saturday and Sunday at Bucknell University's Gerhard Fieldhouse.

Hill was named the women's Most Outstanding Track Athlete after posting a pair of victories and earning all-PSAC status in three events.

On Saturday, she anchored the Vulcans' distance medley relay team to a win with a time of 12 minutes, 0.87 seconds. That was 17.69 seconds ahead of the second-place team.

Then Sunday, Hill won the mile in 4:57.73. That broke her school record and ranks as one of the top-15 times in NCAA Division II. She also placed third in the 800 meters in 2:19.78.

Junior teammate Allison Hall (Blue Ridge) was also a member of the distance medley relay team and placed fifth in the 800 in a season-best 2:20.57.

- East Stroudsburg University junior Travis Toth (Western Wayne) won a PSAC title in the weight throw with a heave of 60-feet, 10-inches.

Senior Meghan Ragard (Blue Ridge) was part of the Warriors' 4x800 relay that won the PSAC title in a school-record 9:25.29. The previous mark was 9:31.10 set in 2003. Ragard ran the leadoff leg and had a split time of 2:23.20.

- Indiana University of Pennsylvania senior Krista Matsko (Abington Heights) took fifth in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.11 seconds. She also was eighth in the 400 meters in 1:01.45.

Victor Costello (North Pocono) placed in three events. The senior was fourth in the mile in 4:16.50 and eighth in the 3000 meters in 8:42.53.

Costello also was part of the distance medley relay team that finished second in 10:07.74 - 0.7 seconds behind first-place Lock Haven.

- Kutztown University senior Sarah Kimsey (Montrose) was 10th in the triple jump in 35-1¼.

Junior Molly MacDonald (West Scranton) was 11th in the 5,000 meters in 18:24.87. However, her time ranks eighth-best in program history.

Redshirt freshman Destiny Distasio (Tunkhannock) tied for fifth in the pole vault at 11-feet, 2½-inches. That was a career-best and moved her from 10th to fifth on the Golden Bears' all-time list.

- Lock Haven University junior Erin Craig (Honesdale) was a member of the 4x400 relay team that placed eighth in 4:03.86. She also was on the 4x800 relay team that took seventh in 9:46.14 - the fourth-fastest time in school history.

Sophomore Ben Robinson (Tunkhannock) was sixth in the 3,000 meters in 8:42.05 and fourth in the 5,000 meters in 15:04.71.

- Millersville University junior Brittney Martin (Abington Heights) finished seventh in the 800 meters in 2:20.93. She also was on the 4x800 relay team that placed third in 9:36.69, which is second fastest in school history.

- Shippensburg University junior Lauren Ellsworth (Lackawanna Trail) was part of the Raiders' victorious 4x400 relay team in a school-record 3:54.48. She also took fourth in the 60-meter dash in 7.86 seconds. It was her third straight indoor top-five in the event.

Graduate student Lyndsay Barna (Western Wayne) had a season-best 17-feet, 7½-inches in the long jump to finish third. She also was sixth in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.13 seconds.

- West Chester University sophomore Janna Wilson (Honesdale) was a member of the 4x400 relay team that placed fourth in 3:59.54 and the distance medley relay team that was third in 12:19.05.

King's College senior Tommy Desir (Scranton) placed third at 165 pounds at the NCAA East Regional Championships on Sunday in Wilkes-Barre to earn a trip to the NCAA Division III national championships.

Desir entered as the No. 2 seed with a 22-0 record and ranked No. 5 nationally in his weight class.

He won his first two matches by 8-4 decisions over Welles Sakmar of Johns Hopkins University in the first round and Alec Horan from Delaware Valley College in the quarterfinals.

However, Desir suffered his first loss of the season in the semifinals, 6-4, to Johns Hopkins' Anthony Carlo. He bounced back to decision Hubert Alson from Ferrum College in the consolation semifinals, 7-4, before downing Horan again in the third-place match, 4-2.

The NCAA Division III national championships are March 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Pool power

It came down to the final event of the Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships in College Park, Md.

UNC-Wilmington needed a win in the 400 free relay to secure a 13th straight team title. The Seahawks got it with senior Gabe Thran (Abington Heights) leading the way.

Thran swam leadoff and his 44.46-second split gave UNC-Wilmington an early lead it would never relinquish, winning in a meet-record 2:56.69 and taking the team crown. It was the third straight year the Seahawks won the 400 free relay at the CAA meet and Thran has been a part of all three.

He also was a member of the victorious 200 free relay team in 1:19.93 and anchored the 800 free relay team to a second-place finish in a school-record 6:33.87.

In the 200 freestyle, he broke his school record by finishing second in 1:37.48. Thran also was second in the 100 freestyle in 44.41 seconds and fifth in the 50 freestyle in 20.33 seconds.

Landmark performance

At the Landmark Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, Moravian College sophomore Ryan Karnopp (Tunkhannock) won the pole vault at 14-feet, 5¼-inches.

Junior Chris Ossont (Valley View) placed third in the triple jump in 43-4½ as the Greyhounds won the men's team title for the fifth straight year.

Susquehanna University sophomore Jen Nagy (Valley View) was second in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.82 seconds. During the preliminaries, Nagy ran a personal-best of 9.79 seconds.

Freshman Keirnan Dougherty (Lackawanna Trail) was fifth in the mile in a personal-best 5:30.80.

- Campbell University junior Mike Bedell (Elk Lake) was fourth in the 800 meters in 1:54.95 at the Big South Championships. The Camels finished second in the team standings.

- University of Massachusetts junior Courtney Kromko (Western Wayne) earned the first gold medal of her collegiate career when she won the long jump at the New England Championships at Boston University on Friday and Saturday.

Kromko's jump of 18-feet, 9-inches made her the first Minutewoman to win an indoor New England title in the long jump in 20 years.

She then took third in the triple jump at 40-2¼ to become the first in 15 years to medal in two events at the New England Championships.

Quick connects

Wilkes University junior Elena Stambone (Valley View) was named a MAC Freedom Conference women's basketball all-star honorable mention. Stambone led the league with 18.8 points. She also averaged 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals and hit a team-high 57 3-pointers. She ranks seventh on the school's all-time career scoring list with 1,235 points. ... Kutztown University junior Brandon Cholish (Valley View/Lackawanna College) was named to the Builder Invitational all-tournament team after batting .421 (8 for 19) with two doubles, three RBIs and seven runs in five games. He also handled all 28 chances in the field without an error (10 putouts, 18 assists). Kutztown went 4-1 in the event in Hampton, Va. Senior Brandon Shimo (Lakeland/Lackawanna College) is also a pitcher for the Golden Bears. ... The Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team is off to a 10-1 start. Senior pitcher Logan Kanuik (Valley View/Lackawanna College) is 2-0 with one save and a 2.70 earned-run average. In 10 innings, he has allowed three earned runs, eight hits, walked three and struck out 14. Junior pitcher Tyler Buckley (Scranton/Lackawanna College) is also on the Rams roster. ... Youngstown State's baseball team has two local players. Senior outfielder Mike Accardi (Delaware Valley/Lackawanna College) is batting .235 with eight hits and three RBIs in eight games. Senior catcher Josh White (Valley View/Lackawanna College) has appeared in six games and has three doubles among his four hits and one RBI.

SCOTT WALSH covers area college athletes and teams in Local Connections. Contact him at swalsh@timesshamrock.com and follow him @swalshTT on Twitter.

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